COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A high school student whose cousin was killed in the Parkland school shooting was among hundreds of Ohio students to descend on the Statehouse during a national day of activism around gun policy.

Seventeen-year-old Matthew Youkilis, a student organizer from Cincinnati, said he’s always been politically engaged but his cousin Jaime Guttenberg’s death in the Feb. 14 massacre in Florida brought gun violence home for him.

Youkilis joined about 250 students from Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and other cities to demonstrate and lobby lawmakers Wednesday for tougher gun laws. Another 50 Columbus-area students rallied outside for added school support staff as an alternative to more police, security and armed teachers.

Other Ohio students on Wednesday left classes, briefly stopped their studies or took other actions honoring the victims.